Shock leaders SS Lazio moved four points clear at the top of Serie A after a backs-to-the-wall 1-0 win at Palermo on Sunday, their fourth away victory in a row.
Defender Andre Dias scored against the run of play with a superb volley from a free-kick after 27 minutes.
Sampdoria also won 1-0 away at Cesena with a last-gasp goal, but dropped talisman Antonio Cassano after he swore at the club president last week.
PHOTO: EPA
While Samp were getting used to the possible prolonged absence of Cassano, Fiorentina were welcoming back fan favorite Adrian Mutu from a nine-month drugs ban, but his side could only draw 0-0 at Catania.
AC Milan’s 2-1 defeat by Juventus on Saturday meant Lazio, relegation candidates last term, would stay top whatever the result in Sicily, but they still threw bodies in the way of practically every shot Palermo could muster.
Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore had missed a good early chance for the hosts and almost scored when Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera struck a clearance against him.
Palermo piled on the pressure again in the second half after Lazio’s Giuseppe Biava was dismissed for a second yellow card after 77 minutes, but Muslera and his defense held out to leave the visitors on 22 points from nine games.
“We still lack 18 points to reach the famous 40 mark and maybe safety [from relegation] and once we reach that, we’ll see,” cautious Lazio coach Edy Reja told Sky.
While Lazio hope to sustain an unlikely title challenge with a modest squad, Sampdoria are poised to play without banished Cassano for the foreseeable future.
They missed his creative ideas in their victory at Cesena, where Giampaolo Pazzini grabbed the winner in stoppage-time.
Cassano, who had appeared to have outgrown his bad-boy image, was dropped and disciplinary proceedings were brought against him after he insulted club president Riccardo Garrone.
The Italy forward, whose Azzurri future is also unclear if he does not play, has apologized, but whether he will be sold in January or brought back into the fold remains to be seen.
Cassano has occasionally been compared to Diego Maradona, given their gifts and flaws, but to Napoli fans no one will come close to the Argentina great.
Maradona’s former club celebrated his 50th birthday this weekend with a 1-0 win at Brescia, where Argentine striker Ezequiel Lavezzi fittingly grabbed the second-half winner, in heavy rain, to send the Naples side up to fifth.
Another skillful, but troubled player, Mutu had a decent game and a few half-chances on his return for Fiorentina at coach Sinisa Mihajlovic’s former club Catania.
The Romanian played in the stalemate despite being probed by police after allegedly punching a barman last week.
In Sunday’s other games, Udinese continued their rise up the table with a 2-0 win at bottom side Bari. Fellow strugglers Bologna lost 2-0 at Cagliari, while Parma drew 0-0 with Chievo.
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